Member Profile: A tribute – Darren Cosentino “The Cos”

Member Profile: A tribute – Darren Cosentino “The Cos”

Tuesday, May 31st, 2016 the Moksha community lost one of our most spirited, positive and peaceful warriors after a courageous battle with cancer, Darren Cosentino or as I soon came to hear him referred to by his adoring wife Sara, The Cos.

In the beginning, Darren didn’t fancy himself a yogi, but as an adventurer of life he was willing to give anything a try a few times over, and as his close friend Paula told me, Darren often expressed how it was such a surprising gift he found and cherished deeply.

Despite his competitive nature, The Cos was the truest of yogis. He lived his truth, he cherished the present moment and lived life to the fullest. It’s funny even though I was the yoga teacher, I (Shauna) somehow felt like it was Darren who was the one teaching me and those around him the more important lessons.Darren’s yoga story is best told by Darren, the ultimate story teller, but I’ll try to do my best.

Darren started coming to Moksha back in 2009 and appreciated it for its benefits but never really committed to a consistent practice, he simply enjoyed the physical benefits when he could make it in his very busy life working at Bison Transport.

Then the unthinkable happened, Darren was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. I noticed Darren starting to practice more and more, seeing him during the day. Conversations at the yoga desk don’t often revolve around work, so I didn’t think to ask Darren why he was now able to practice during the day, I simply enjoyed seeing him and conversations we shared. He was doing great, he was gaining lots of strength, flexibility and balance. The practice was really starting to connect and we’d have long chats after class, when eventually Darren told me about his diagnosis. This shocked me as Darren to me seemed physically fit and healthy and one of the most upbeat people I knew.

His commitment to practice over his time was so amazing. He shared many stories of how yoga took on a whole new meaning and changed his life, helped him to keep his body strong and fit and also helped him to weather the multitude of surgeries and treatments over his illness.

To the eye and in spending time with Darren, he was not a sick man. The doctors gave him timelines and prognosis that he proved wrong time after time. He was a warrior.

Darren deepened his practice at any opportunity and though I know he did embrace the softer side of the practice, he was certainly happy to brag when he conquered his latest moves including headstand on his stand up paddle board and a variety of crazy arm balances in Flow 2.

February 2014 Darren pulled me aside to let me know to keep an eye on him. Despite Doctors recommendations, Darren and Sara went on a vacation down south, and on a snorkelling trip, Darren’s heart stopped. He died, sudden cardiac death. They got him on the boat, performed heart compressions for 30 mins as he was transported to a hospital where they were able to restart his heart via 4 electrical shocks to bring him back to life but in a coma. They said he would never come out of the coma, and if he did he would have brain damage and never be the same. After getting air transported to Miami for observation and treatment, sure enough, Darren pulled through, and 4 weeks later there he was in the yoga studio, thrilled to tell us the story and get back in to class. As long as Darren was alive, he was going to practice yoga, and spend his time with the love of his life Sara and strong community of friends.

He did exactly that. Since committing to a consistent practice and coming whenever physically able Darren completed 439 classes often joined by his wife Sara, and would have certainly done more had pesky cancer treatment not have gotten in the way.

November 2015 Darren decided to stop the treatments given the harsh impact on quality of life and diminishing upside. Instead, he chose the path to make the best use of his time and fill it with all that he loved and he did just that.

Recently as we attended Darren’s funeral we could see he was adored by so many and that his impact, his legacy, his love touched so many just as he was able to touch our hearts. When I step in to the yoga room to teach a class I can feel Darren’s presence in the room.

Thank you Darren, for joining our community and touching our hearts.

We miss you.

With gratitude,

Your Moksha Family

Moksha Yoga Winnipeg donated $439 to Siloam Mission in honour of the 439 classes that Darren practiced since joining the Moksha community.